Shadow Effect - 21. Chapter 21

The closer they got to Montana, the more nervous Tyler became. While he knew about Elijah’s abilities since he was six, the existence of other types of shifters and otherworldly beings, like vampires and Fae, was fucking with his mind. He could certainly understand the concern they had regarding humans finding out about them.

Knee-jerk reactions among Homo sapiens were typical. The last thing the world needed was pitchfork and torch-wielding flash mobs running amok, trying to burn the modern version of witches and demons in the world. Christ, that would be like the Salem witch trials on steroids, only worldwide.

“Hey, I need to stop soon. Bladder overload with that last coffee,” he said, giving Elijah a sheepish grin.

“Figures. We only have about forty-five minutes to go and you can’t hold it.”

“Sorry Bro, can’t be avoided.” Tyler couldn’t help it if he wanted to delay their arrival by a few extra minutes. Every moment needed to help wrap his mind around the fact that in less than an hour he’d be surrounded by guys with abilities that gave him vivid, larger-than-life nightmares as a child, was a moment to help soothe his frayed nerves.

However, Elijah was onto him. After he pulled into the next rest stop and shut off the engine, he turned and put a hand on Tyler’s arm. “Ty, take a deep breath. I can’t tell you enough how normal these guys are. I know they’ll like you and there’s nothing to be afraid of. Honestly, they don’t go around scaring the shit out of people just to get a reaction. Sandi reminds me of your mom. In her world, food fixes everything. I’m willing to bet she's been cooking up a storm all day just for the two of us. Try to relax, okay?”

“I’m trying, I really am. I have no idea why I’m so freaked out about this. It’s irrational, I get it. But every time I picture it in my head, all I can see are those damn god-awful, low-budget horror flicks. I still remember some of those nightmares vividly.”

“Would it help if you saw the whole process start to finish? I know Zev and Ben wouldn’t mind explaining what happens when they shift. They’ll probably even show you. I’m sure they all would, too. Not that seeing six grown men turn into wolves at once would be good for your psyche. But one or two wouldn’t be so bad, would it? I think you’ll be a lot more at ease if you saw it firsthand.”

“Maybe? Let’s see how I feel when we get there. But right now, seriously, Imma ‘bout ready to piss myself.”

Elijah let go of his arm, and Tyler jogged to the men’s room. The stop was quick, just long enough to relieve themselves and stretch their legs for a few minutes. If not for the underlying panic, he’d be glad when they got there. Being cooped up in the Nissan most of the day was tiresome. They'd been on the road since six o’clock in the morning. Breakfast was from a drive-through, eaten on the go. Elijah insisted on making a stop for lunch, but that had been hours ago. Now, Tyler could feel hunger pangs starting to gnaw at his belly. For the most part, traffic had been nonexistent all afternoon. The long stretches of asphalt, and continuing humming of the tires had lulled Tyler into a semi-stupor, allowing his mind to dwell on their impending arrival into shifter territory.

He had to admit the scenery was beautiful. They wound their way along I-84 across Oregon, opting to take the northern route, which traveled up through part of Washington and then cut across the Idaho panhandle. Elijah was a trooper, traveling through an area which didn’t hold such great memories for him. They traversed through the mountains and across I-90, eventually entering Montana.

Trees and fields were blooming. Pretty meadow flowers made beautiful backdrops for picture taking, if they had time. Occasionally, they spotted some deer off in the distance with young fawns on gangly legs, and once a brief glimpse of a mama black bear and two cubs halfway up a mountain field.

As they approached the pack lands, as Elijah referred to Sebastian’s territory, the sun was starting to set, giving the newly sprouted vegetation a soft glow. Elijah flicked on his directional and exited the highway, pointing out a service station that belonged to someone named Rowan, then the diner owned by the infamous Sandi and her husband Wayne. They bypassed the establishment, and Elijah followed the road until he was just past the outskirts of the little town. He finally turned onto a narrow, paved lane which led to a large log mansion.

“Welcome to the McDen, as it’s been dubbed,” Elijah announced, turning off the engine. He gave Tyler a reassuring grin, and Tyler could see genuine happiness on his friend’s face. That was a good sign. He resolved right then and there to push aside any lingering fears he had for the sake of his best friend.

Their arrival hadn’t gone unnoticed. The front door to the McDen opened and two men with bright smiles on their faces came out, jogging down the stairs.

“That’s Ben and Zev, c’mon!” Elijah displayed an enthusiasm Tyler hadn’t seen since before Kage died. It wasn’t as boisterous as he knew his friend was capable of, but it was a start.

Tyler opened his door, stepped out, and watched as his best friend was engulfed by two exuberant men. He took this opportunity to scrutinize the wolf shifters. Outward appearances were perfectly human. Both had a similar shade of sandy blond hair, their builds weren’t too different. One was a little taller and broader than the other, and as he drew closer, he could see that one had green eyes and the other a pretty light brown hazel.

“Ty! Come meet the guys.”

Tyler stepped forward and extended his hand to the taller of the two, whom Elijah introduced as Zev.

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” he said and then turned to repeat the process with Ben.

“We’re so happy you’re both here,” Zev said. “Why don’t we help you with your things? Are you hungry? Sandi’s been cooking up a storm all day.”

“Told you.” Elijah gave him a lopsided smile as he popped the back of the Nissan open. Zev and Ben were there quickly, each of them grabbing a bag from the cargo hold. He noted ‌Elijah took the one with the laptop in it.

Upon entering the big house, Tyler was duly impressed. While it looked like a big log cabin on the outside, the inside was anything but rustic. Modern, yet comfortable looking was his first thought. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but decided what he saw suited the place perfectly.

He followed Elijah and his friends to the large kitchen where one woman and five men, including the biggest dude Tyler had ever seen up close, were all pitching in to get dinner out to the big table he glimpsed in the adjacent dining area.

Elijah made quick work of introductions. Sandi smiled and hugged Elijah tight before turning to welcome Tyler. Her husband, Wayne, was a big guy in his own right, almost as tall as the biggest dude. Kellan was well built and had unusual mahogany-brown hair. His mate, Hunter, had dark hair with a slight touch of silver at his temples, making him look older. Finally, the smallest man was paired with the largest one. Reilly had white-blond hair and looked positively petite compared to his mate, Sebastian. The two were polar opposites when it came to coloring. Where Reilly was light, fair, and average height, Sebastian was dark, tanned, and freaking tall. Tyler estimated six and a half feet.

“Tyler, welcome to our home,” Sebastian said, his voice deep and rather soothing. “Elijah’s told us a little bit about you and we’re looking forward to getting to know you. Please don’t be afraid of us."

“I’m not afraid,” he blurted, a blatant lie.

Ben snickered. Zev elbowed him.

“Ignore them,” Reilly insisted. ”We know you’re afraid because wolf shifters can smell fear, Tyler. Sebastian is right, you don’t need to be afraid. What can we do to assure you of that?”

Tyler guessed he was the empathetic one of the group. Either that, or he was trying to get him to let his guard down so they all could enjoy a little Scooby snack before their dinner. An appe-Ty-zer. Nope, not letting his thoughts go there. He promised Elijah.

Luckily, his best friend came to the rescue. “Guys, maybe after dinner, you can explain some more about shifters to Tyler. I’ve told him what I know, but I think if he sees for himself how not-so-scary it really is, he’d understand better. Unfortunately, we both watched way too many werewolf movies when we were kids and they made a lasting impression on us, and not in a good way. I used to be scared too until I spent time with all of you.”

Well now, if that’s not embarrassing. Tyler could feel the heat rising to his cheeks. He shot Elijah a look.

“Tyler, why don’t we go sit down, have a nice dinner, and afterwards we can get to know each other a bit more?” Sebastian offered diplomatically. “Then, if you decide you’re ready to see a shift, one of us, or all of us, can make that happen. I’m proud of our wolf halves and would be honored to show them off, whenever it’s right for you.”

“That sounds good to me,” he answered truthfully.

“Well, if you all are done with the feelies, then get your asses into the dining room so we can eat,” Sandi ordered.

The smell of roasted beef and chicken, along with potatoes and vegetables, had been assaulting his nose since they walked through the front door. His stomach growled loudly in anticipation of the feast. He was not disappointed.

He got an abbreviated version of the third degree from Elijah’s group of friends and, as dinner wore on, he loosened up.

“Tyler, Elijah tells us ‌you’re a musician. What instrument do you play?” Sebastian asked.

“I play a few. Piano, which I use most often to compose. I also play the horn and trumpet. I can get by on sax. My favorite is the guitar, which I use a lot in composition too,” he answered.

“Tyler brought his guitar. Maybe we can convince him to play it for you,” Elijah volunteered.

“Do you play any string instruments other than the guitar?” asked Reilly.

“Not really. I know the basics of how to play bow-and-string instruments like violins and cellos, but never really got much practice. My middle school music teacher steered me toward guitar and piano. She said I was too rough for the string section. I’m surprised she didn’t put me in percussion, but I’m happy she didn’t. I probably wouldn’t have followed music as a career path.”

The questions continued for the duration of the meal and into dessert. Tyler answered them all as best he could, telling Elijah’s friends about his family, his interest in commercial music and everything else they wanted to know.

Once dessert was over, Sebastian suggested they move to the common room, which would be more comfortable. Even though it had been a long day, he wasn’t the least bit tired and he could see Elijah still had plenty of energy in him, too. Although he knew as soon as the day caught up to them, he would crash spectacularly. As long as the conversation didn’t focus on Elijah right now, his best friend would be fine. Tyler had a feeling that explaining Kage to this crew was going to be a difficult conversation.

“So what do you want to know about animal shifters, Tyler?” Sebastian asked when they were seated.

“Whatever you can tell me, I guess.”

Sebastian smiled and gave him a quick history lesson, explaining how shifters were thought to pre-date humans and that humans descended from animal shifters who lost their ability to shift, but still carried some residual DNA. He retold the legend of the Sentinels, filling in details Elijah had missed or didn’t know.

“I still don’t understand how your wolves are all related, color wise. I just can’t picture it,” he said.

“Look behind you,” Reilly prompted. “Tyler, and you’ll understand.”

Tyler turned around and gaped at the painting he overlooked earlier. Whenever anxiety hit him, he had a tendency to tune out everything except for what was right in front of him. A sort of self-imposed tunnel vision, which explained how he missed the incredible focal point.

“Wow! That’s you guys?”

“No,” Sebastian chuckled. “That painting was done a long time ago, before any of us were born. It’s a depiction of the original Sentinels of the legend. It sat in Silas’ basement for much too long. You’ll meet him and Rosalie soon. We didn’t want to overwhelm you on your first night.”

“Speaking of overwhelming,” Reilly butted in. “Elijah looks like he’s ready to drop.”

Tyler looked over at his best friend and sure enough, he was in the middle of a face-splitting yawn, clearly putting his tonsils on display for anyone who glanced his way. As was the contagious way of yawns, Tyler followed suit.

“I’m fine,” Elijah declared when his jaw snapped back into place.

“Nonsense. Why don’t we show you to your rooms and we’ll continue this tomorrow? Shifting can wait until then. But before we do, I believe you mentioned a laptop?” Sebastian prompted, shooting a slightly disapproving look Elijah’s way.

Busted by the big dog. Tyler had a feeling the Alpha would have liked to have known about this earlier.

Elijah blushed bright red. “Sorry Sebastian. It’s in one of my bags. Just–, um, can the explanation that goes along with it wait? I promise to come clean tomorrow.”

Tyler knew ‌the laptop was intimately connected with Kage, and Elijah wasn’t ready yet to go there. Not after a twelve hour day on the road.

Sebastian sighed before nodding.

They said goodnight to everyone and followed the Alpha and Reilly down the wing with two bedrooms on each side. The rooms on the left were theirs. Elijah took the one he stayed in last time he was here. It was connected to Tyler’s room by a shared bathroom.

Elijah unzipped the duffle bag holding the laptop. He hesitated before handing it to Sebastian, cradling the device against his chest. “I really hope this holds information worth the price it came with.”

Sebastian gently took the laptop when Elijah pushed it away from himself. “I’ll do my best to make sure we find out what’s on here. I promise.”

Elijah’s eyes shimmered with tears.

Tyler thanked their hosts. Reilly told him to come to the kitchen for breakfast whenever they got up. There was no rush.

Elijah followed him into his room. “What did you think?”

“I think you were right. They are just normal guys. Who just so happen to be able to go all wolfie.”

“Could you repeat that? Just the first sentence. I want to record it so I can pull it out in the future and throw your own words back at you.” Elijah had snapped out of his temporary funk and Tyler was thankful for the teasing words.

“I said ‘fuck you, you’re an ass’.”

In response, Elijah swatted his ass as he turned away to grab his bag and head to his room. “Goodnight Ty. I’ll leave the bathroom door open so you can run into my room if the Boogeyman scares you,” he said with a parting shot.

With a smile, Tyler rummaged around until he found his toothbrush and hurried to beat Elijah into the bathroom. He locked the door on Elijah’s side, turned the shower on, and ignored his friend’s pounding when he realized he was locked out.

After a quick shower, he brushed his teeth and took a piss before opening the door to a perturbed Elijah.

“All yours,” he said, rolling his hands in a grandiose gesture.

Elijah responded by shoving him out into his room. He gratefully flopped down on the bed and scooted under the covers. It had been a long ass day, and he was asleep before Elijah finished his own shower.

Tyler slept until ten o’clock the next morning and was surprised to see Elijah still sleeping when he peeked into his room. Quietly, he used the bathroom, then changed into jeans and a t-shirt before heading to the kitchen.

“Hey Tyler!” Hunter and Kellan greeted him in unison.

“Good morning,” he replied.

“Help yourself to coffee. There are bagels and English muffins in the breadbox, cereal in the cupboard, or we could fix you some eggs if you want,” Kellan offered.

“Nah, a bagel and some cereal are fine,” he answered.

Hunter got up and showed him where the plates and bowls were, and pointed at the cabinet where they kept cereal. The breadbox held three types of bagels. He helped himself to a cinnamon swirl one. Kix was his choice of cereal. Once he was settled, he got the question that he’d been anticipating.

“How is Elijah really doing?” Kellan asked. No beating around the bush.

Tyler finished pouring milk on his cereal before answering. “The best I can do is give you my opinion. How is he? Well, no one can answer that but Elijah himself. Honestly, he’s had a rough go of it the past few months. Not just losing his parents, but he met someone that he developed real feelings for. Unfortunately, he lost that person too. Anything else is his story to tell, not mine.”

“That’s right,” Sebastian’s deep voice said from behind him. “You’re a good friend, Tyler. Elijah is the only one we need to hear the details from. It’s his choice whether or not to tell us.”

“I know that. I was just worried about him. We all are,” Kellan admitted.

“I’m sure he’ll be up soon. He doesn’t normally sleep this late. Neither do I, but it was a long day yesterday.”

Reilly joined them. Soon after, Ben and Zev came in with bags of groceries, which they put away in short order. Everyone helped themselves to food, and it wasn’t long before Elijah showed up, rubbing the remnants of sleep out of his eyes as he said ‘good morning’.

The conversation revolved around neutral topics; the shifters catching Elijah up on what had been going on in their lives in the past four months, as it didn’t relate to the whole kidnappings and experimentation on the pups. Tyler learned some more about the people whose names he recognized and would meet soon.

Once breakfast was over and the kitchen cleaned up, Sebastian looked at Elijah expectantly.

“I know I probably screwed up, and I’m sorry. I should have called you guys sooner, but up until last week, we had things under control, or so we thought. I know it’s too soon, but were you able to get into the laptop?”

“I’m waiting on a callback from a contractor I occasionally use for security work. He’s the best there is. I didn’t want to try anything until I spoke with him. If the information on the device is as important as you think it is, it stands to reason there are measures in place to prevent tampering. It requires a different approach.”

“What measures do you mean?” Tyler asked. His computer knowledge was a little more than basic, but he was far from an expert.

“It could be protected with a program designed to thwart repeated attempts to hack in. It might wipe information after a certain number of failed attempts, or automatically download a virus. There could be extra steps to verify the user, such as biometrics,” Sebastian explained.

Tyler saw Elijah blanch, realizing their bumbling attempts at guessing the password might have jeopardized the information they were trying to access. He felt a little queasy himself.

Elijah was quick to explain. “It belonged to Kasar Huntington. For some reason it ended up in my parents’ possession. I think it’s why they were killed. We’re pretty sure it has information regarding the missing hybrid pups that were sold off.”

Elijah’s statement was met with a chorus of; What? Where did you find it? How do you know?

Sebastian let out a short, but loud whistle, stopping the avalanche of questions. “One at a time, starting with me. Elijah, why didn’t you tell us about this sooner?”

“We’ve only had it in our possession for a few days. While we’ve known about its existence for a while, it had been missing until now. My dad hid it in an old car he purchased a couple of days before he was killed. The car was in a storage facility, and whoever killed him didn’t know about it. I might have found it sooner, but the law firm that handled their estate misplaced the information until someone was doing some follow up on the title. If I had found it sooner, things might have turned out much differently.”

“Why don’t you tell us the whole story, Elijah,” Sebastian prompted gently.

Tyler automatically took Elijah’s hand and lent his support as his best friend painstakingly told his shifter friends about Kage, his abilities, his role in all of this and, yes, even what he did for a living. Looking at the expressions on his other friends’ faces, Tyler could tell they weren’t pleased Elijah had gotten mixed up with Kage, not to mention having his heart broken.

Sebastian seemed to be digesting all the information, while the rest of them showed their visible distress at Elijah’s heartbreak. Losing your parents and then your first love right on the heels of each other was a hard pill to swallow.

Reilly came over. Elijah let go of Tyler’s hand to return the hug the wolf shifter gave him. Tyler had a slight twinge of jealousy, but nothing he hadn’t felt before. He was very protective of Elijah. Always had been, always would be. He felt it was his job, and it was disconcerting to have anyone move in on what he considered his friend’s territory.

When Reilly returned to his seat, Elijah leaned into him. Tyler automatically gave him a hug and kissed the top of his head.

“Kasar Huntington, huh?” Sebastian tapped his fingers on the table absentmindedly. “I’ve heard rumblings ‌he’s been involved in a lot of different illegal ventures, specifically illicit pornography. It doesn’t surprise me he is eyeballs deep in this. I’ll call Simon and see if he or Robbie have any information. Their entertainment businesses are completely legit, but they do have their eyes on the seedier side of it. They may have an inside scoop. The biggest concern right now, in my opinion, is this Cassiel. A Fae prince? I think I might need some input from Silas and Rosalie. Fae don’t like to mess with this side of the Veil. Fae royalty? That makes me a little nervous, honestly.”

“I don’t think you need to be too worried about Cassiel. His primary objective is to eliminate threats to the Veil. I don’t think he was lying about that,” Elijah tried to assure the big shifter.

Sebastian’s phone rang. Swiping his finger across the screen, he connected the call. “Lex? Thanks for getting back to me so soon. I need to know if you can walk me through accessing a laptop, which most likely has government-level security.”

They couldn’t hear what the person on the other end of the line said, but Sebastian nodded at Reilly, who took off toward their wing. Moments later, he returned with the laptop. Sebastian switched the call over to video and put it on speaker.

Sebastian listened as this Lex guy walked him through a few steps to determine what they were up against, without compromising any potential information.

“You said you need access immediately? I’ll have to try to remote in, poke around to see what I find. It’s going to take a while,” Lex said.

They all got the hint. The only ones to stay with Sebastian were Reilly and Zev. The rest headed out onto the big porch.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay. Sebastian seems to know what he’s doing and the computer guy didn’t say it wasn’t possible,” Tyler assured Elijah.

“I know, I just hate waiting.”

Tyler hated waiting too, but there wasn’t much they could do. An hour went by with Hunter and Kellan trying to keep their spirits up. After nearly two, excruciatingly long hours, Reilly appeared at the sliding glass door, grinning from ear to ear. “They got in!”

It was a small stampede as they all rushed the door, jostling to hurry inside. Zev was at the big dining table, laptop open before him, tapping away at the keys. “Let’s see what this baby has to offer!”

Tyler saw several windows open up and when Zev finished accessing the information, he focused on the first window, staring at it intensely, his eyes darting all over the screen. It was a wonder he didn’t have a seizure.

“Anything?” Elijah asked hopefully.

“Snippets. I think I might have to print everything out and fit it together like a jigsaw puzzle.” Zev’s forehead was furrowed in concentration. “From what’s here, it’s pretty complicated. At least from my first impression.”

“Looks like gibberish to me, babe,” Ben remarked.

“Nope, not gibberish, There are definitely patterns here, but it might take me a little while to figure it all out.”

“We’ll leave you to it. Let us know if you need any help,” Sebastian declared, knowing that none of them could help Zev unscramble what was on the computer. “In the meantime, would you like to see our wolves, Tyler?”

Tyler blinked repeatedly. “Seriously?”

“Yes, if you’re comfortable with it, that is.”

Tyler looked at Sebastian, as if to gauge his sincerity, and then glanced at Elijah, who nodded encouragingly.

“Okay, I think I’d like that.”

He followed the wolf shifters out to the back deck, with only Ben staying behind to keep his mate company. The meadow behind the house was in full bloom. Wildflowers dotted the landscape with a riot of bright colors. He barely noticed when the men disrobed. It wasn’t until they were naked that he realized four extremely hot individuals, in all their natural glory, stood in front of him. They were all off-limits. Damn.

Elijah not-so-subtly put two fingers under his chin and physically closed his mouth. The shifters laughed before loud cracks and pops ripped through the air. Tyler’s expression quickly morphed into morbid horror, automatically thinking they were dying. The sound of bones breaking and reforming was much louder than he imagined, most likely because it was multiplied by four.

His horror turned to fascination as fur sprouted, muzzles pointed, furry ears emerged, and tails started wagging. The process only took a moment or two, even though it seemed longer. Suddenly, four humans were gone and four wolves stood before him. Goddammit, they were beautiful. One black, one white, one silver and one mahogany, all with markings complementary to each other. It truly was a sight to behold.

The silver and mahogany wolves trotted behind him and buried their noses in the ass of his jeans. One of them—he wasn’t sure which one—nipped at his left cheek.

The large black wolf barked once, reprimanding or encouraging. He had no clue. Elijah just laughed. If getting his ass bit by a wolf gave his friend a moment of happiness, he was all in. Elijah’s laughter continued as the four wolves seemed to turn into overgrown puppies, jumping on each other, biting at tails and ears, and tumbling across the new grass. Tyler joined the laughter, amazed that grown men could act in such a way. It must be so liberating to have a second side to oneself. He no longer feared the shifters, he was actually a little jealous.

The silver and mahogany wolves took off across the meadow, yipping as if to taunt the other two. The black and white wolves were not to be outdone and gave chase. The two out front were no match for their Alpha. The big black wolf caught up quickly and sent them both tumbling with one swipe of his huge paw. They got up, shook out their grass and flower-petal-covered coats, and ran back toward him and Elijah. Tyler swore they were grinning the whole way.

Another round of cracks and pops and four naked men stood before them. Once again, damn!

“That was amazing!” Tyler exclaimed after they had gotten dressed.

“So, now what do you think of wolf shifters?” Reilly asked.

“I think it’s pretty awesome that you have to get naked before you shift,” he teased.

“Shut up you perv!” Elijah said, rolling his eyes.

“What? I’ve had a long dry spell. Can you blame me?”

Elijah shook his head, but there was still a smile on his face. Mission accomplished. His shifter friends knew it too. None of them were upset with his antics.

“Are you up for meeting a few more shifters?” Sebastian asked. “It’ll be some time before Zev has anything for us. He’ll text me if he comes up with something sooner. It would make my wolf happy if I could show off our pack. I have a few errands to run, but you can visit Rosalie and Silas while Reilly and I take care of them.”

“That sounds great. I’d like to put faces to the names that Elijah has talked about.”

“Well, then, what are we waiting for?”